Updated 2:49 pm, Monday, May 5, 2014

A Fort Worth veterinarian accused of keeping a dog he had supposedly euthanized has admitted holding five such dogs for either experimentation or blood transfusion, according to documents.

Dr. Millard "Lou" Tierce III, owner of Camp Bowie Animal Clinic, has been charged with animal cruelty, and his veterinary license has been temporarily suspended.

He was arrested April 30 and released on bail.

A hearing on his license suspension is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. May 9 in Austin, according to the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.

In its order of temporary suspension, the board recounted the story of Marian and James Harris, who filed a complaint with the board on April 22.

The Harrises said they took their 170-pound Leonberger, Sid, to Tierce's clinic in May 2013 for a minor gland problem. Tierce kept the dog at his clinic to perform cold laser therapy and ended up keeping him until October 2013, when he told the couple the dog should be euthanized due to a birth defect in his spine, the suspension order stated.

The couple agreed to have Sid euthanized in October, but last month, a former clinic employee told the Harrises that Sid was still alive, being kept in a cage for 23.5 hours a day. She said several other animals were in the same situation, either being used for blood transfusions or being experimented on, according to the Harrises' complaint.

The Harrises went to the clinic and removed their dog.

On April 29, the board conducted a clinic inspection. The temporary suspension order stated: "Animal organs were kept in jars throughout the clinic. Bugs were visible in exam rooms. Stacks of drugs, trash, laundry, paperwork and other miscellaneous material were strewn about the examination rooms, hallways, stairwells, operating room, laboratories and offices of the clinic."

Unsecured medication, including some controlled substances, were also strewn about, the report said.

Board investigators received a signed, handwritten statement from Tierce that he had accepted five animals for euthanisia at his clinic and had kept them without euthanizing them, the report stated.

Fort Worth police also went to the clinic on April 29, along with Dr. Michael Morris, owner of Animal Hospital of Southwest Fort Worth. Morris identified three dogs, one of which Tierce said was his own dog, as being so decrepit it had to be euthanized. Tierce admitted that the dog, a black-and-white border collie, should have been euthanized earlier.

According to Tierce's arrest warrant affidavit, a clinic employee told police the border collie had been lying on a pallet in the same spot since she started work in June. She said she had not seen the dog receive any medical treatment, the affidavit stated.

Tierce told police he had given his dog water and food but no medical treatment.

Morris examined the border collie and found that it was emaciated, had severe mouth disease, cataracts, abnormal overall health, a neurological and untreatable disease and was missing the bottom of a foot, the affidavit stated. It was subsequently euthanized by the Fort Worth animal shelter, the document said.